Solid Floor new Self adhesive underlay or nailing ? Help, advice, information, answers and tips on all types of flooring from laminate and carpet to timber and vinyl

[ferrybiker]

Hi,

I will be laying a solid (Jatoba) floor in the next few weeks on to good and level floorboards on a ground floor room.

The local big chain DIY shop recommends thier underlay which has a peel back self adhesive top layer. You just peel it back as you go with no other glueing. They say it is especially for solid wood flooring but have you heard of it and would you recomend it as and alternative to using a secret nailer straight to the floorboards?

Thanks,
Malcolm.

[thedoctor]

Not a great idea to nail a timber floor to another timber floor. The expansion and contraction in timber is huge and you could end up with splits and cracks quite easily. The adhesive underlay is ok as long as its allowed to sit, unfixed, on the existing floor and the new floor is stuck to it.

[ferrybiker]

:D

Thanks Doc.

[MarkT]

Check the moisture content of the existing wooden floor and provided it is below 14% RH you can nail it. You would need to nail at right angles to the existing boards. It is a good idea to put building paper between the old and the new floor as a moisture barrier.

Elastilon underlay will also work but it's better to nail it

[ferrybiker]

Thanks Mark,

I went ahead with the Adhesive underlay and it has been down for about 6 weeks now. All is well and although it is a little tricky to lay the first few rows without pulling the underlay out it was easy enough overall. Time will tell I suppose!

Jatoba looks great but is very hard....cooked 2 saw blades :-)

Malcolm.

[jmb]

Hello,

I am wondering how your floor is doing? Has the self-ahesive underlay worked, or would it have been better to have secret nailed the floor? Also did you use floormaster or elastilon?

Thanks,
john

[simonk]

Hi John,

I used floormaster self adhesive underlay to lay my floor just before Chrismtas.

It works great for ordinary rooms but was tricky for me as I had to go through an arch (lounge/diner) and really had to think about how to lay it back to the wall through the arch.

I would use it again, much easier than glueing (I had tongue & groove solid oak).

Si

[simon55]

I want to lay wood flooring to my existing concrete floor. I have been told i will need to use a DPM and the adhesive underlay. When it is stuck in place will there be space for expansion? Or does the wood move with the elasticity of the underlay?

Is it much of a job or is it basicly peel and stick the wood into place and then move on??

I will be pulling all the skirting up so that i can hide my expansion gaps around the walls however 1 wall is a stone wall which has uneven stone protruding. I have been told to mix the saw dust with some PVA and hide the gap on that side of the wall with this mix??? Good idea or not???

Regards
Simon

[dobbass]

Hi Simon
I am planning a similar project however, i'm going for tanalised timber batons on a visqueen DPM (or paint on DPM). I'm more confident in getting a good fixing with a secret nailer than with adhesive. I would advise using many nails so that the boards can't lift, don't worry about splitting if you're fitting hardwood (i.e. oak).

Post back and let me know how you get on.

regards
Lee